Italian salad with emulsified dressing and croutons
Brian Lagerstrom · ♥ 2.7K likes · 64.9K views · 11 min video
Read about lettuces in the BrightCulinary Book
Timestamp
Ingredients
Method
Techniques
- 45 g white distilled vinegar
- 25 g champagne or white wine vinegar
- 15 g sugar
- 5 g salt
- 1 g black pepper
- 1 g dried oregano
- 1 g dried basil
- 1 g red chili flake
- 20 g red onion
- 10 g bell pepper
- 1 clove garlic
- 25 g grainy mustard
- 200 g neutral oil
Measure the two vinegars, sugar, salt, black pepper, oregano, basil, chili flake, red onion, bell pepper, garlic clove and grainy mustard into a tall container, reserving the neutral oil.
Emulsified Italian dressing with a stick blender
Spin with an immersion blender, keeping the head near the top and adding the oil on top a little at a time so it does not sit, until emulsified.
- 3–4 cups sourdough
Do not over-puree it, since warming it is bad for holding the emulsion; refrigerate until dressing the salad.
Tasting and chilling the dressing
Slice the stale sourdough, cut off the thick outer crust and cut into chunky cubes.
Thirsty sourdough croutons
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp salt
- olive oil
- 4 tbsp melted butter
Season the cubes with the garlic powder, dried oregano, salt, a couple of glugs of olive oil and four tablespoons of melted butter.
- 2 heads green leaf lettuce
Chop and wash the green leaf lettuce, cores included.
- 3 oz salami
- Italian dressing
- croutons
- pepperoncinis
- ¼ cup Parmesan
- 1 whole cocktail tomato
- black olives
Cut the salami into thin strips.
Dress the croutons first so they get thoroughly saturated, then add the lettuce and the rest of the garnishes.
Building and tossing the salad
Add the red onion, pepperoncinis to taste, Parmesan, the tomato, the cold black olives and the salami, and toss it in a huge bowl with tongs; a salad like this benefits from being beaten up a little.